The NHL GM meetings wrapped up yesterday, and to no one’s surprise they came up with a recommendation that will punish headshots — or at least some of them. Thankfully they found a way to word the rule so it won’t punish or deter players from making big, clean hits.

"A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and or the principal point of contact is not permitted. A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline."

This wording is great because it allows players going straight on towards another player to deliver a blow. I was concerned they would word it in a way that might deter players from delivering a hard check. I’m all for getting rid of cheap head shots, but I do think the puck carrier still has to keep his head up and hopefully the game never loses that element.

There are still some grey areas that need to be worked out. Is a blindside hit a two-minute penalty, a five-minute major or will it be one or the other accompanied with a game misconduct? These wrinkles will be ironed out over the summer, but expect this rule to be in place next season.

It is long overdue and the players clearly needed some guidelines.

A few other rule changes were tabled, and I don’t see why they won’t be approved by the competition committee and board of governors this summer.

The GMs want the first tiebreaker at season's end to be changed to regulation and overtime wins, and not overall wins as is currently the case. Basically a team that is dominant in the shootouts, won’t win the tiebreaker.

The NHL wants the American Hockey League to go to a four-man officiating system in 40 per cent of AHL games. The AHL currently uses three-man system for all games. This is really the AHL’s decision but considering the NHL has agreed to financially back it, I don’t see why the AHL would balk at it.

There were a few other rule changes presented on Tuesday by various GMs that didn’t make it out of the boardroom.

The Islanders proposed that the top seven teams in each conference make the playoffs, while the eight through fifteen seeds would have a play-in tournament in each conference. This is idiotic. Basically the regular season would come down to a one-game do-or-die format. Why play 82 games? That was a horrible idea by the Islanders.

Once again some Einstein thought a tweak to the all-star game would make it better. Memo to the NHL or anyone who thinks the all-star can be meaningful, IT CAN’T, nor should it.

The all-star game is a meaningless, fun game, but someone actually proposed that the two leading scorers or leading scorers in each conference, at the all-star break, would draft their own teams. I’m not making this up. This was actually put on the table as a viable option.

I don’t understand why people expect the all-star game to be intense, when many regular season games aren’t that intense. The all-star game is a reward for the stars of the league. They get recognition for a good start to their season, they get to mingle with other stars of the league, and most importantly the big sponsors get to meet the stars of the game.

Nothing will ever make the all-star game meaningful, so can we please stop trying.

The other proposals at least had some validity to them.

Changing the overtime formula to four minutes of four-on-four and if no goal was scored then they would play three-on-three for four minutes. The NHL would like to see more games decided in overtime rather than in shootouts. The AJHL currently uses this formula and the three-on-three is highly entertaining. I think the NHL might re-visit this idea in the future.

The final proposal was a challenge flag. The NFL and NLL currently use a coach’s challenge flag, but I’m not sure how it would be effective in the NHL. Right now any questionable goal is reviewed, so what exactly would coaches challenge? Would they challenge missed offside calls, or questionable penalties?

I’m not sure the NHL needs a challenge flag. Do you? Would any of these rules changes make the game better?

The headshot issue needed to be addressed, but one rule that should be changed is touch-icing. I don’t see the benefits of having touch icing. Sure there are a few exciting races for the puck where the forechecker gets there first to avoid the icing call, but is it really that exciting? We’ve seen some horrendous injuries because of these races, and I don’t see the reward outweighing the risk.

I’d be all for getting rid of the instigator rule, but I don’t see that happening unfortunately.

Ice woman of the week

Meagan is a three-year veteran on the Dallas Stars Ice-Girls. She loves horseback riding, snowboarding and herding cattle in helicopters. I wonder if she herds the cows while wearing her goaltending equipment.

Random thoughts

Tonight the Windsor Spitfires host the Plymouth Whalers. Taylor Hall v. Tyler Seguin and Cam Fowler will also be on the ice. The Oilers, Bruins, Blue Jackets and Islanders will have three of four scouts/management types in attendance, and other teams will be there as well. If you are interested you can watch it at http://livestream.ontariohockeyleague.com/

Back in late January I wrote the Canucks needed to be at least .500 on their NHL-record 14 game road trip, they finished 8-5-1 after a shootout loss in Phoenix last night, if they wanted to win the NW. They did better than that, and now with ten of their final 15 games at home and a five point lead on Colorado it looks like they should get home ice in the first round. I still think Mike Gillis should have added more than Alberts and Stastny, but the Canucks are Canada’s best hope to win a Cup. It’s safe to say that won’t happen, and Lord Stanley will reside in the US for another season.

I loved hearing Vinny Lecavalier rip the league for not suspending Matt Cooke. “He’s been doing this his whole career, hurting guys. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew exactly he was going to hit his (Savard's) head. He’s got no respect for players and they (NHL) are protecting the wrong guy.” Cooke is a gutless puke in my mind. But I think it is more a lack of fear than a lack of respect. If Cooke knew he’d have to fight a guy or risk being jumped he’d think twice before delivering another blatant cheap shot.

Looks like the Oiler curse doesn’t leave a player once he departs Edmonton. Denis Grebeshkov took a shot in nards, and needed surgery to supposedly remove one of them and is out a month. Steve Staios is -3 in three games with the Flames. Lubomir Visnovsky has two goals in three games with the Ducks, but they’ve lost all three and now the Ducks are seven points out of a playoff spot. Should the Oilers perform an exorcism of their dressing room at the end of year? I don’t think it can hurt.

Nothing like jumping the gun. Hockey Canada was in an uproar about losing Sidney Crosby’s glove and stick. It turns out the glove was in Patrice Bergeron’s bag, and the stick was packed in a truck and sent to Toronto. You’d think that asking other players to check their bags would have been the first thing to do, rather than offer a $10,000 reward and basically accuse someone of stealing the items.

So Sidney Crosby didn’t go on the David Letterman or the Today Show. Who cares? Do you really think having Crosby in that forum will boost hockey’s interest amongst Americans? Crosby would be better served to go on SNL and be funny or poke fun at himself. Getting interviewed by Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira would be a kin to Elisabeth Hasselbeck going on Off The Record. I doubt sports fans would all of a sudden tune into The View after seeing her. Crosby is not the most personable guy, so put him on SNL and maybe we’d see a lighter side of him. Non-hockey fans would be more enticed by that that seeing him with Letterman or Lauer.

***Patrick O’Sullivan has a big lead for the green jacket sitting at -32. Shawn Horcoff has dropped to -27, while Rod Brind’Amour is -24 and Steve Staios is -22. Staios is -3 in three games with the Flames***

Quote of the week

I had Windsor head coach Bob Boughner and Plymouth bench boss Mike Vellucci on my show this week. Both had some interesting comments on Hall and Seguin.

Boughner on Hall’s best strength and what he is working on:

“I’ve had him since he was 15 and his best attribute is his skating. He is extremely hard to knock off the puck, and has NHL explosive speed right now. He has a wide wheel base which makes him hard to knock of the puck. And his hunger for the puck is immense. He’ll go into the dangerous areas, he’ll crash the net as hard as I’ve seen anybody and if it is a 50/50 battle for the puck he’ll come up with it.”

Boughner on how Hall is handling the pressure of being highly touted?

“He is a really confident kid who doesn’t get shaken easily and he loves being that go-to-guy and the guy to make a difference. In that regard he is handling it no problem. In the other way he has done some great things. He asked me if he can do his own community visits instead of doing team visits because it would mean more. He’s bought tickets out of his own pocket and he spends time going on hospital visits that we don’t even know about. He tries to give back in his own way and he doesn’t need or want the media there. He just likes giving back.”

Boughner on the concerns that Hall skates with his head down too much and he might get hurt in the NHL.

“I think that is overblown, but I can see why people would say that. He’s got a target on his back every night and teams are looking to finish him and they’re looking to put as much abuse on him as they can. Taylor’s one of those guys who doesn’t shy away from it. He does get hard some nights and I think its cause he isn’t afraid to go to the dangerous areas. Sometimes he does look down at the puck, but he’s gotten a lot better at it and just when you think you have him he gets low to the ice and duck around checks. I’ve seen him get hit hard, but he’s always got up and went right back at it and he isn’t easily intimidated.”

What do you like about Seguin’s game?

“He’s a great player. I had him at the U-18 this summer for team Canada. He’s more of a puck distributor, while Taylor is more dominant at fishing loosing pucks and going to the net harder and winning battles. Seguin is more a playmaking centre. He sees the ice extremely well, and isn’t afraid to shoot from anywhere and he is a great skater. Hall is more of a take it himself type of player while Seguin is more of a distributor.”

Mike Vellucci gave me his thoughts on both as well.

What has been the biggest improvement in Seguin’s game this season?

“The biggest improvement is his finish. This year he has worked on being a more well-rounded player, not just an assist guy, but being able to score too and we’ve seen that with is 47 goals and 58 assists. He’s a well-rounded hockey player. He knows how to play in his own end, but just like any young guy you need to harp on him sometimes a bit more to make sure he does. He’s been involved in 43% of our goals this year, which is a very high number.”

How is Seguin dealing with all the fanfare and attention?

“He’s a level-headed kid. He actually deals with the media very well. He’s well-spoken and articulate and I know he wants to be the number one overall pick. That is his goal as is winning a championship this year. He wants to go the first pick and he hasn’t shied away from it. It’s something he is putting in an effort to make happen. He’s worked hard this summer to get there. He put on some weight, improved his foot speed and worked extremely hard and wanted to start the season strong. And he did. Taylor Hall has been tabbed number one the last three years, while not many people knew who Tyler was and he was out to prove he was every bit as good and as talented and wanted to be number one.”

What does he need to keep working on and improve to be successful in the NHL?

“Like most kids, strength is the biggest thing. I don’t have to harp on him that much, because he is in the weight room, not just with our team, but on his own and before practice. We work on little things. Where to be positionally, how to save your strength instead of skating all over and keep circling and do a little more stops and starts. He makes coaches look good, so really we work on strength, conditioning, consistency and also his defensive play.”

I asked him to compare Hall and Seguin.

“They are different no doubt about it. Taylor Hall is an exceptional player and his speed is dynamic. When the puck is on his stick everyone is trying to catch up or they are standing there watching him. He is dominant. Tyler has good speed as well, but he sees the ice so well and he controls the game. When the puck is on his stick he can slow it up and speed it up. Hall is a year older and will probably be more explosive his first couple years in the NHL, but I think Tyler Seguin will be a very dominant forward for several years as well.”

Sounds like both players are determined to be stars in the NHL, and it will be interesting to see which one has his name called first June 25th in Los Angeles.

One of Canada's most versatile sports personalities. Jason hosts The Jason Gregor Show, weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m., on TSN 1260, and he writes a column every Monday in the Edmonton Journal. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JasonGregor

I think you can bring some meaning to the Allstar game by making the reult of the game itself mean something. They should make the winner of the Allstar game get home ice in the Stanley Cup final.

The NHL schedule is still very conference-heavy. Teams play far more games within their conference than they do out of it, so a team like Washington wins the President's Trophy and guarantees themselves home ice as long as they're in the playoffs because they get more games against Toronto, Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, etc. during the season.

Between compiling the teams based on the best players from each conference (and not guaranteeing each team is represented), and giving the winning team home ice in the SCF, you might actually see an improvement in the actual game.

I think you can bring some meaning to the Allstar game by making the reult of the game itself mean something. They should make the winner of the Allstar game get home ice in the Stanley Cup final.

The NHL schedule is still very conference-heavy. Teams play far more games within their conference than they do out of it, so a team like Washington wins the President's Trophy and guarantees themselves home ice as long as they're in the playoffs because they get more games against Toronto, Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, etc. during the season.

Between compiling the teams based on the best players from each conference (and not guaranteeing each team is represented), and giving the winning team home ice in the SCF, you might actually see an improvement in the actual game.

Did it make the all stars play harder in baseball? No. It won't make guys work harder for home ice. You are dreaming my man if you think home ice will make guys play hard. Why does it have to matter, and why would you make one game decide home ice advantage, when it has nothing to do with the teams that win regular season games?

I would like to see a 10-minute misconduct penalty for the after-the-whistle pushing and shoving. If you are going to disrupt the game between whistles without backing it up, then sit for 10-minutes in shame, but if a player wants to drop the gloves and fight, then go ahead and take your 5-minute penalty. Maybe this will make the Matt Cookes of the League more accountable for their actions.

I would like to see a 10-minute misconduct penalty for the after-the-whistle pushing and shoving. If you are going to disrupt the game between whistles without backing it up, then sit for 10-minutes in shame, but if a player wants to drop the gloves and fight, then go ahead and take your 5-minute penalty. Maybe this will make the Matt Cookes of the League more accountable for their actions.

Makes it tough to protect your goalie if that was the case. If you start a fight you get the instigator and if you push someone you get 10 minutes. Either way you hurt your team.

I'd like to see something happen to try and eliminate the scrums after the whistle but I'm not sure this is it.

You should read his blog at the Oilers site and judge for yourself. Beware, ITS SEXY!

Guess that's why he didn't get to pose all naked like with Souray, Cogs, and thecaptain for that magazine. He wouldn't have been able to keep his eyes on the camera, they woulda been too focussed on the other guy's junk.

My 2 cents on Hall vs Seguin is that the Oilers need a dominant player who can drive hard to the net and is strong in the corners and has good foot speed. In that sense, Hall would be that guy and he sounds a lot like a younger Iginla to me.

Even if Seguin is a better 2-way player today, it is easier to coach a player on improving defensive skills, while pure goal scoring ability is a talent that is rare at the elite level.

We already have Hemsky as a first line playmaker, and we can't seem to sign any UFAs to play with him, so I'd go with Hall. From what I've read as well, Hall is currently a winger however played most of junior as a centre, so he would be versitile as well.

On a side note, it would be nice to see us pick up Jagr for 1 season so the top defensive pairings on other teams focus on that line. That would give our younger guys more success and confidence going up against lesser defensive units.

Ask yourself, if any of the meatballs spreading this stuff actually know him???

If he was your good friend, would you start a rumour on the Internet about his "preferences"? Even asking the question puts you close to the category of not smart.

Absolutely not, but this isn't the only site that refers to it. Anyway, I could care less. I'm not sure why I even asked the question? Save for a handful of guys, I have nothing but the utmost respect for professional hockey players.

I'm not a scout, so my impressions mean very little compared to those guys, but I go with Seguin. However, I'm a fan of going with the Best Player Available in the draft. It doesnt matter whether we already have Hemsky or not because in a couple years he might not be here anyway. Cant base what you draft on the current needs of the club, that's what Free Agency is for.

Seguin has scored more goals than Hall by quite a bit this season, keep that in mind when everyone is calling him more of a distributor than Hall.

Did it make the all stars play harder in baseball? No. It won't make guys work harder for home ice. You are dreaming my man if you think home ice will make guys play hard. Why does it have to matter, and why would you make one game decide home ice advantage, when it has nothing to do with the teams that win regular season games?

Maybe the players won't treat it like game 7 of the SCF, but if the result actually lead to something, maybe people would actually watch ithe game (or at least care about it a little more). And isn't that the whole point? I also didn't realise the SCF teams were already locked up at the AS break each year.

The schedule is ~3/4 inter-conference games anyway, but the result of that schedule is supposed to determine which of the top teams in each conference deserves home ice? Seems about as reasonable as having the result of a collection of one conference's best players vs the other's decide it. And if it adds value to the AGS, then why not?

Appreciate the response. Totally agree with the free agency point, however we seem to have trouble going that route to fill any holes: faceoff specialist, penalty killer, let alone a goal scorer (dare I say Hossa or Heatley).

Great point on Seguin's goal scoring overall, however if you look at the 2 teams in comparison, Seguin is on a weaker team and in on over 40% of the goals scored. Hall is on a stronger team and still putting up large numbers.

At the end of the day I don't think you could go wrong with either Hall or Seguin. I just fear we will finish 29th overall and a team in 3rd thru 5th worst will win the lottery and we'll lose out on both. That's the kind of luck we're having this season...

Any one else think that getting our own Ice Girls crew might help offset the reduction in quality hockey next year, in order to keep season ticket sales up?

But why do we want the game to mean more? It's fun meaningless entertainment and that all it should be. The last thing a fan of a borderline playoff team wants is for their all-star player injuring his shoulder in an All-star game so that San Jose or Pittsburgh can have home ice advantage n the SCF.

Get a team that doesn't suck and most of the Oilers problems in the free agent market will disappear. Pittsburgh and Detroit are holes yet FAs sign there.

Don't get me wrong, Edmonton will always have a disadvantage when it come to it's climate, but a lot of it will be cured if the franchise and city aren't view as a cold dark dangerous oil-polluted suck-hole.

Can someone please answer a question for me.
What is the purpose of the referees, if players feel they need to protect one another?

If someone isn't playing according to rules, aren't the refs there to punish them accordingly?
In the NFL if someone hits the QB helmet to helmet, he is penalized. No one ever steps in to face wash him or try to beat him up.
The players are in the game to play and not to serve and protect.

Until the NHL gets rid of the useless fighting and players that are there for these purposes, cheap shots and useless players will keep occurring.